Prior to any processing, a substrate (e.g., a semiconductor wafer) will typically have a native oxide layer due to exposure to oxygen in the ambient air. When depositing an epitaxial III-V layer (i.e., a layer including group III and group V elements from the periodic table) on the substrate, it is not desirable to deposit the III-V layer over the native oxide layer. Below, techniques are discussed for forming a III-V layer on a substrate in the context where a native oxide layer is initially present on a surface of the substrate.